The death toll in the tsunami tragedy that swept Indonesia, in Aceh and North Sumatra is feared to have killed nearly 40,000-80,000 people.

Donald Greenlees, Banda Aceh – The home that Epayani left behind at Meulaboh, on the west coast of Indonesia's Aceh province, now lies under the sea.

Lindsay Murdoch, Meulaboh – The suffering in this once-bustling seaside town of 40,000 on Sumatra's west coast is unimaginable.

Jakarta – Many of the planned New Year's celebrations will become charity events in the wake of Sunday's 9.0-magnitude earthquake and deadly tidal waves in Aceh and other nations on Ind

Endy M. Bayuni, Jakarta – Bodies are still scattered on the streets and under the rubble in Banda Aceh, Meulaboh and many other towns in Aceh.

Maire Leadbeater – The year is ending tragically for hundreds of thousands of our Southeast Asian neighbours.

US-based groups with a long record of experience in the region today called on the Indonesian government to not let politics override the needs of people in tsunami stricken Aceh.

Stephen Fitzpatrick and Patrick Walters – The first shocking images of Sumatra's devastated west coast emerged yesterday, leading authorities to dramatically increase the estimated toll

Sian Powell, Aceh – It was the stuff of nightmares in Aceh's capital city yesterday but it was an essential step to preventing epidemics of cholera and other diseases – an excavator wor

Lindsay Murdoch, Simeulue – From the air, it could be Hiroshima – a town hit with such devastating force it has literally been flattened.

Max Lane, chair of Action in Solidarity with Asia and the Pacific, condemned the departure today from Brisbane of the sixth Australian Defence Force Security Detachment to Bagdad.

Sunday morning, December 26th 2004, Tsunami waves hit Aceh and North Sumatra. It was the biggest disaster in Indonesia since the last 40 years.

Jakarta – Three Buyat Bay residents have withdrawn a US$543 million civil lawsuit filed against PT Newmont Minahasa Raya for allegedly causing heavy metal poisoning.

Lindsay Murdoch, Banda Aceh – They have blank stares and don't speak.

Jakarta – Shocked and grieved by the massive devastation and loss of life wrought by the earthquake and tsunamis that hit Aceh and North Sumatra, Indonesians have turned out in droves t

Amy Goodman, host

A massive earthquake December 26 in the Java Trench off Sumatra spawned tsunamis that have killed tens of thousands in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India, the Maldives, Thailand and east Afric

Wayne Arnold and Eric Lichtblau, Lhokseumawe – Mulyana, a 24-year-old housewife, had just sat down to a wedding party on Sunday morning when the tsunami struck.

The oil-rich Indonesian province of Aceh was one of the few places hit by both southern Asia's massive earthquake and the tsunamis it caused – a double blow that killed thousands and wr

Tim Johnston – For the people of the northern province of Aceh, Sunday's earthquake brought a two-fold disaster.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The government on Monday warned 42 companies, some of them state-owned, to radically improve their protection of the environment within six months, otherwise th

Jakarta – Tectonic earthquake followed by tsunami that swept through Aceh and North Sumatra is the greatest disaster hit Indonesia for the last decade.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – As thousands of Acehnese were killed in the most devastating natural disaster in the country's history, Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh went on trial on

In Indonesia's Aceh province the government's figures have passed five thousand but some officials believe that number could well double.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – A high ranking official with the (then) Trade and Industry Ministry was clearly puzzled when a journalist asked for his comment about a number of comp

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Newmont Mining Corp.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Disposing of unprocessed hazardous waste in the environment and the absence of waste management licenses are examples of the violations committed by companies, a

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Environmentalists have renewed calls for the government to completely ban submarine tailings disposal (STD) in the country, for fear of further pollution, such a

Hasrul, Kendari – Daeng Embang stared in despair at his dying orchard when a team of government officials and environmental activists stopped by his house on their way to monitor activi

Palu – Fish catches in the Palu Gulf had dropped dramatically during the past two years because of sand dredging in the area, fishermen said on Thursday.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – A government-sanctioned joint team announced its official report on alleged Buyat Bay pollution here on Wednesday, maintaining its stance that PT Newmont Minahas

Indonesia says it won't shy away from the controversy of prosecuting the world's biggest gold mining company for alleged pollution.

Indra Harsaputra and ID Nugroho, Surabaya/Blitar – More towns in East Java will likely follow Blitar's major flood with the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) forecasting continuou

Dadan Wijaksana, Jakarta – A visiting team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recognized early signs that the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is serious

Jakarta – The Indonesian government has officially announced that environmental pollution has taken place in Buyat Bay, Minahasa, North Sulawesi.

Two private companies are apparently continuing land reclamation work along the coastline of Dadap village in Kosambi district, Tangerang regency, despite a ban issued by Regent Ismet I

Multa Fidrus, Tangerang – Tangerang's main river, the Cisadane, is now lined with clusters of home factories, which has prompted environmentalists to demand the regency administration t

Michael Casey, Buyat Bay – Mention Newmont Mining Corp.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Tony Hotland, Jakarta – The government may also be blamed for the pollution of Buyat Bay in North Sulawesi, Coordinating Minister for Social Welfare Alwi Shiha

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Tony Hotland, Jakarta – After long and exhaustive tests carried out by a number of local and international teams, the government concluded on Wednesday that Bu

Fadli, Batam – Riau Islands provincial government is planning to lobby Minister of Trade Mari Elka Pangestu to allow local businessmen to resume exporting sand from the sea, a top gover

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Police are finalizing the case files of six executives of mining firm PT Newmont Minahasa Raya before returning them to prosecutors, hoping that the files will b

Karishma Vyas, Bangkok – Rampant illegal logging in Indonesia and the demands of a rapidly expanding population and economy in Indonesia are killing many of Asia's most exotic and rare

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – A number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) urged the government on Wednesday to immediately relocate people living near Buyat Bay in North Sulawesi follow

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The study of a joint team involving 14 government agencies has found indications that Buyat Bay in North Sulawesi has high levels of arsenic, promptin

Bogor – Hundreds of villagers in Jonggol district, Bogor regency, protested on Tuesday against frozen and dry food producer PT Belfoods Indonesia for polluting Cibodas River.

Nur Raihan, Banda Aceh – The prolonged conflict in Aceh cannot be resolved by arms.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – With the six-month state of civil emergency in Aceh nearing an end, leading ulemas in the province suggested on Monday that the government of President Susilo

RR Ariyani, Jakarta – A grouping of non-government organisations (NGOs) who are handling the Buyat Bay pollution case including the Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi) and the Mining

Evi Mariani, Jakarta – As the environment on several islands in Kepulauan Seribu regency continues to deteriorate, the Jakarta Police have yet to show significant progress in their ongo